Soft-Baked Funfetti Sugar Cookies.

It’s the return of Funfetti Fridays. Because every Friday deserves a little sprinkle/sparkle to it, right?!

I am very excited for two reasons today:

1) This was the first photo shoot in 8 months that I was able to put away my tripod and free-shoot. Last weekend, I shared with you that I bought a new camera! Quite the business investment. It took me a few photo shoots to get used to it and today was my lucky day. I ditched the tripod! Call it perfect lighting, the perfect camera, or the perfect cookie – whatever it was, I was elated!

2) I have been studying, researching, testing, and retesting, and more retesting for months and months to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe. Thick, soft-baked style, pillow-y, buttery without being greasy, and showered with sprinkles. Well today folks, here it is. The winner!

And after months of researching, studying, testing, retesting, and retesting some more… I finally found my one and only sugar cookie recipe. Yes, I did a little happy dance in the kitchen when I took the first bite.

The recipe is quick. The cookies only take about 8 minutes in the oven. They will look undercooked and very soft. That’s ok – they will continue to bake as you let them cool on the cookie sheet. I always underbake my cookies because I like them extra soft.

The recipe makes a small batch and can easily be doubled or tripled for a large family, get together, or party. I got 15 decent sized cookies from the batch. Just enough to have some in our cookie jar and leftovers for Kevin’s coworkers, who are getting quite spoiled with cookies recently.

There’s room for a ton of sprinkles. The dough is thick enough to hold a fair amount of the good stuff. In my recipe testing, I’ve found that sugar cookie dough can be overly greasy, making it hard to incorporate sprinkles and have them stick. Not these – they’re the perfect soft pillow for a multitude of sprinkles. A lot of sprinkles is a good thing. Especially on a Friday.

I have sprinkle fever.

I am quite certain that nothing compares to sinking your teeth into a soft, chewy sugar cookie. The cookies are so tender, they will melt in your mouth.

Directions:

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed. Get it nice and smooth, then add the sugar on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts. The dough is quite thick and you may have to stir the rest by hand. Once combined, fold in 1/2 cup sprinkles.
Scoop a large sections of dough (about 2 Tablespoons of dough each) and roll into balls. Make sure the balls are taller, rather than wide. Add a few more sprinkles on top of each ball dough.

Chill the balls of dough on the cookie sheet for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours in the refrigerator.* This step will prevent spreading in the oven.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake chilled cookie dough for 8 minutes, no more. The cookies will appear undone and very soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes and move to wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies stay soft & fresh for up to 1 week at room temperature. Cookies freeze well. Cookies may be rolled into balls and frozen up to 3 months to bake at a later date. Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

*If you're in a pinch and need to soften your butter quickly, cut 1 stick of butter into 5 different sections. Microwave for 10 seconds.

*Room temperature egg is required. To bring the egg to room temperature quickly, place in a warm glass of water for about 10 minutes as you get the other ingredients ready.

265 Responses to “Soft-Baked Funfetti Sugar Cookies.”

Thank you for the recipe! I’ve been looking for a good sugar cookies with sprinkles and this was perfect. I made it for the first time last night on a whim for friends at church and they all raved about them

Hi Sally, Love your site. Made these cookies last week to share with extended family. What a huge hit! Nobody could stop with just one – even the cook who usually tries to have some restraint! I am thinking of making your raspberry sweet rolls for tomorrow’s breakfast treat. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Hi Sally! I made these soft baked funfetti sugar cookies as well as the soft baked red velvet cookies and both tasted amazing, my only issue is that my cookies seem to be really thin and are spreading too much. I chilled both batters for the indicated time. I did use margarine instead of butter, would that have any affect on the spreading? My gut tells me I should maybe freeze the batter to get it colder before I bake them. I figured I would ask you since I am planning to make every other recipe on your site and might need the tip for the future…I am totally hooked!

Hey Robin! I have a few tips for reducing spread in cookies. First, use a silpat silicone baking mat. The grips on the mat will hold onto the bottom of the cookies, which help reduce spread. Do not use margarine – use butter (the recipes are developed to be made with butter). Chill for a longer time – sometimes I chill the dough in the refrigerator, then roll into balls, then freeze the balls for about 10 minutes, then put them straight in the oven. That helps!

These cookies are SO GOOD!! I just baked up a batch tonight for my family! I have also made a bunch of other recipes from your blog and everyone always has rave reviews on them!! I also wanted to say how much I love your food photography!! I loved your post on food photography and have been trying to use some of your tips on my own food post on my blog. I just got my first DSLR a few months ago, and it makes a HUGE difference!! Keep up the amazing work!!

I NEVER comment on these types of things – but I just couldn’t resist this time. These are seriously the greatest cookies to ever step into my life, and I couldn’t thank you more! I’m not sure what was so different about this recipe, but this is the first time I’ve had tasty homemade sugar cookies. Right from the beginning I couldn’t keep my fingers out of the dough – which is odd, because usually I can’t stand the taste of sugar cookie dough ? Anyway, I applaud you, stranger!

I must be a little slow. Initially I picked up the sprinkles for the tops of the cookies with my fingers and tried to place them on the cookies. Half of them missed so I used tweezers to gather up the dropped ones from the cookie sheet. When I had five left, I realized that turning the dough ball unpside down into the sprinkle container was much easier and more effeicient! You don’t have to dip too far as the dough picks up plenty of sprinkles with one quick dip.

Aloha! I noticed that the dough can be frozen for up to 3 months…would I need to let them set to room temperature before I put them in the oven, or can I just pop them in straight from the freezer? Thanks =)

Hi Sally! Quick question for you – about how long do you mix the sugar with the butter after creaming the butter alone for 1 minute? Also, and I’m not sure you would have any way of knowing, but I’m curious if my refrigerator is set at a colder temp than yours? My cookie dough was soo cold after chilling and putting it in the oven, they didn’t spread much at all. I had to leave them in the oven a few extra minutes and then tap them down after they came out. The end result was still amazing and this WILL be my go-to sugar cookie recipe, so I want to make sure I can perfect it! Thank you so much! Can’t say enough great things about your blog and congrats on all of your continued success!

Hi Nickee! Do you think you are over measuring your flour? The cookies may not be spreading as a result. OR try chilling for less time. Or chill the cookie dough and then let sit out for 30 minutes before baking. I mix the butter + sugar for about 1 minute as well.

As I just got cream of tartar earlier this week, I made these cookies today. Oh my gosh they are DELICIOUS! (I’ve had two already, oops!) I did, however, read the directions wrong and chilled the dough before rolling into balls, not after, so my cookies spread thin. Regardless, the edge and inside had the perfect ratio of crunchy to soft!

Hi Sally! First of all, I just wanted to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE your website, and I plan to try out all your sugar cookie recipes, however, I wanted to make these today, and realized I dont have baking soda. Is that ok? Thanks in advance

My cookies ended up thin & spread out.. I followed the recipe to a T, but the cookies still spread. I used butter, had the ingredients room temperature. The only thing was I put the cookies in the freezer for 30 minutes before putting in the oven. I didn’t omit them being chilled before baking. I used colored halloween poreils sprinkles because that’s what I had on hand, but could that honestly have changed the outcome.Where did I go wrong? Answers from anyone please?

Same thing happens to me for the first few cookies I baked so I put the rest of the cookie dough in the freezer for few days and then baked them for 10 minutes and they were fluffy and soft like Sally’s!

Hello Sally! I’m a huge follower of your recipes. I want to make this cookies but I cannot find cream of tartar anywhere where I live. I made a little research and I read that it can be replaced with vinegar or lemon juice. Would you recommend me to do so?

Thank you sooooo much! Before I read your post I went to the store last night / this am and got the baking powder. I used green food coloring and mint extract with chocolate chips…OMG they look so good. They’re in the oven now. Must admit it’s hard to take out after only 8 min… Wish me luck

The first time I baked these cookies they came out thin even after chilling overnight, yet they tasted great. I decided to bake them again for a holiday party, this time I added 1/4 cup more of flour and they came out excellent. Same great taste, except this time they looked exactly like the cookies in picture. These cookies were a hit. I made a little more than 2 dozen and all the cookies were gone in less than an hour. My new go to sugar cookie recipe. Yummy!

I made these for Christmas this year and my brother said they were the best cookies he’s ever had. He requested that instead of a birthday cake I just make him a giant cookie. Luckily, I know you’ve got me covered with a recipe for that!

You can chill the cookie dough whole, yes. Make sure you let the chilled cookie dough sit at room temperature for around 20 minutes before beginning to roll into balls. The cookie dough will be a little hard and solid right out of the fridge.

I have a strange question, but what are the bottom and edges of these cookies supposed to look like? Light brown, dark brown, golden brown? There’s something off with my stove (8 minutes means wayyyy underbaked, so I went with ~15 minutes), but because the cookies are supposed to look a little underbaked to begin with, I don’t know if I’m cooking them long enough or far too long. I use parchment paper, and the bottom of my cookies are a light brown, but the edges aren’t brown at all.

Best. Sugar. cookies. ever. PERIOD!
We made a batch of these *as written* to give to the construction crew on Christmas Eve (our house is in the middle of a construction site) and the whole plate of about 4dzn was gone in 10 min flat!
Naturally, when the request came for my 2 oldest kids to bring in Valentines treats for scool this week this recipe was 1st on th list. We modified slightly by omitting the sprinkles and adding a few drops of pink gel food coloring to the dough. (It seriously looks like something straight out of the book “Pinkalicious”….which is a must read if you have a little girl!!). Anywho, I digress…..We plan to frost and add some sprinkles on top once they are cool.

With your permission I would love to post a link to this recipe ( and your blog) in our recipe swap group!!